Democratic Northwest. [volume] (Napoleon, Ohio) 1869-1894, 1887-07-14
INACCURACIES OF SPEECH.
The Man who TaIlEsby the Hour. the
? Man who Writes by the Yard, and
the Girl Who Uses Slang.

process through which the mind Is
trained to accurate thinhng-not so
much learning TO know as learn
ing to think, To him knowledge
was q means, not an end; useless II
acquired without thought; harmful II
not applied by correct thought, and
capable of its best uses only when en-
ployed by the mind educated to ae-
curate thinking. Through this reason
ing he becomes o student OF words,
studying them, not to- become an
etymoIogist, butas q means OF express
the tendency of the high pressure
Educational movement OF the day Is TO
transform the subject as nearly into an
eucycIopedia as possible. Accuracy
of thought is lost sight of, and accuracy
of expression is not considered so long
as q command of language shall be OBJ
tanned. The consequence is q degener-
acy in conversation, in public speak
ing and In writing. The professional
humorist who has built up fame and
fortune out of exaggerations is one ex-
ample of this fact. Other examples
are furnished by the legislative bodies
ofour land, and by our preachers and
LAWYERS (nlany Of them) who have
fallen into the habit of using words
that i'll express their meaning. An
other outgrowth Is tendency to a.
periuity Of words. Long winded"
persons have no place in this day and
generation. The world is too busy
and too pushing. Folios are out OF
vogue; sermons measured by the hour
glass are not tolerated; poems in twenty
long cantos are not read, and o lawyer
who uses up two or three days plead.
ing o cause may win a large Zee, Dut
will probably lose his cause. Inc
most popular writer's are those who
say much in the fewest words, although
certain great authors spin out their
ideas past all human endurance, and
tempt the reader to frequent jumps as
he goes along. EASY and graceful
writing,p az tits sometimes called, is
generally b I'D and tresome reading,
even though the words were well
chosen. One gets weary of sentences
with tails as long as that of kite. Re-
porters for newspapers are great sim
ners in the matter of prolixity. They
are everything, and in their endeavor
to make others see with their eyes
thew 90 into minutia that are weari-
some and uninteresting. For example,
in describing the scene OF o burglary
or murder, of what earthly interest is 1t
to any living mortal to know the num-
her of posts In front of the house where
the crime was committed, the exact
dimensions of the porch or the number
of articles of furniture in the room.-
Everybody knows the "dull thud''
that accompanies every execution.
Why 90 on describing it forever?
There are public speakers. too, who
never know when to stop. Even after
their ideas have all run dry they go on
babbling. It is wonderful how much
can be said in ten or fifteen minutes by
one who has taken pains to condense
his thoughts, and it is quite as wonder
full how little can be said in two hours
by one who has the gift of dilution. A
''patent condenser" analogous to that
used in steam engines, for the use OF
wordy writer's would be q great boom
to the reading public, and would bring
afortune to its inventor. In the case
of public speakers an automatic gag
might be good thing, or trap-d0ol
regulated by clock work so that II
would drop the speaker out Of sight az
soon as his time should be up, might
be devised. The number or writers
and speakers has become so large that
if they are to get hearing they must
boil down their utterances to cores
pond with their thoughts.
Another evidence of the tendency tc
superfiuity of words is the exaggeration
=. prevalent in ordinary conversation
The multiplicity of adjectives used ]:
bewildering to the common sensica
hearer. School girls and light-headeC
persons of both sexes are grievous of
lenders in this particular. They lool
at everything andat everybody through
strong magnifying glasses that are rose
tinted besides. To them q sunset,
tolerably fair-looking girl and a new
bonnet are alike perfectly lovely" al
average young man Is q "pertec
Adonis.n and the slightest mischanct
"perfectly awful These. forms o
expression, if applied to commonplace
things and occurrences, rob our lang
mace of its meaning. The word "per
fectD implies great deal, and wher
Something "awfur' really does happer
there is no word left in the vocabular,
to describe it. !,
10G WlOIeSttlc use VA SAohS 40 0AAoshS
blot on elegant conversation. Withou
once stopping to ferret out the meaning
or the origin of a new expression 1t is a
once adopted and made to do duty IL
every time and place. There is n
doubt that certain expressions great.
enrich our language. Even the divin'
Shakespeare introduced them into nj
writing; bnt there was q reason TO
them. They fitted the case, and wer
in no sense vulgar. Much of the SLAM
which is heard issuing from pure am
rosy lips would be barred out were /:
meaning and origin suspected. Woul'
it not be wiser to taboo altogether tina
about which doubt exists? At al
events, girls, ''go slow" in the use .
slang.
An old legend relates that when tn
soul of the ancient Egyptian was ferrie
over into the presence of the judges h
was asked, not what he had done |
life. but what he had not done, and o
this was based the which, iffn his fave
held him fit to return to his body an
live again. 1t is further related tina
not far down the list was the question
"Have you multiplied words in loos
talking?'' How many Of our SOU
would ever escape from the boat II W
should answer that question truly9
The inaccuracy of speech, this supeI
fiuity of words, this prevalence OF Sian
and the reckless use oflanguage genera
s a.. IL 49,. - A ~, Tn